Contents

About Taven

Taven made his first appearance in Mortal Kombat: Armageddon as the game's protagonist. He is a half-god and son of the Protector of Edenia, Argus, and of a powerful sorceress who has the ability to see into the future, Delia.

Like his brother Daegon, Taven has the ability to control fire (unlike his half-brother Rain, who controls water).

During his early character development, Taven was referred to as "Hero" and "Bob", but those names were later dropped and the Midway team decided to name him Taven.

Appearance

Taven is depicted as a young man with dark hair and goatee wearing an all black outfit with grey armguards and golden accents, including a three-piece necklace and a sigil of a dragon on his back to represent his guardian and friend, Orin. A dragon tattoo is shown on the right side of his face, a mirror to the one his younger brother Daegon bears. After acquiring his armor, Taven wears the single ornate chest piece that is still black with a greater amount of golden accents and jewels encrusted on it, as well as more formal armguards to replace his simple black ones.

Combat characteristics

Powers and abilities

Due to his status as a half-god, Taven's powers are ones never to be underestimated and appears to be one of the most powerful characters to ever appear in the franchise. He is commonly associated with the element of fire, much like Liu Kang. He uses this in the form of devastating fireballs that can decimate rows of lesser opponents in one fell swoop, deliver an earth-shaking leaping ground pound that knocks foes into the air and deliver quick punches with his fist enveloped in fire. He also has the distinction of being the first character introduced in the series with any influence over time and space. He has the ability to teleport himself across vast distances and temporarily halt time.

Signature moves

Inner Fire: Taven blasts a fireball at his opponent. In Konquest mode, this attack will often kill enemies with a single hit. (MK:A)

Ring of Hatred: Taven rises into the air and smashes his fist into the ground, causing a shockwave of fire. In Konquest mode, this attack is used to activate Ground Pound switches placed in the earth. (MK:A)

Godly Charge: Taven charges forward, ramming his opponent with his shoulder in a show of fire. (MK:A)

Escape Move: Taven vanishes and reappears elsewhere, allowing him to quickly evade his enemies. This is a supermove only used during Konquest mode. (MK:A)

Time Stop: Taven halts time, freezing nearby enemies for a short period. This is a supermove only used during Konquest mode. (MK:A)

Fatalities

Taven's Fatalities are only done in Armageddon's Konquest mode.

Head Pop: Taven uppercuts his enemy's head off.

Thrust Punch: Taven punches through his enemy.

Torso Rip: Taven rips his enemy in half.

Neck Snap: Taven snaps his enemy's neck.

Quotes

Mortal Kombat: Armageddon

"Orin? What happened?"

"I don't understand. Why am I in Earthrealm?"

"Competition? Last thing I remember Daegon and I were summoned to Father's throne room and..."

"No. This is all too strange. Where is my father? I wish to speak with him."

"Why will I need a weapon? Very well, Orin. Lead the way."

Trivia

In General

Taven's original pending name was Bob. Although Ed Boon did not like the name Taven, he stuck with it as the final one.

Excluding guest characters (Kratos, Freddy Krueger, Jason Voorhees, Predator, Alien, and Leatherface), Taven is currently one of the three characters that are only playable in one game, the other two being Daegon and Onaga.

In MK:A, Midway Games wanted Taven to defeat Blaze, but with the Mortal Kombat (2011) storyline, it was retconned that the one who defeated Blaze is Shao Kahn. This makes Taven's endings non-canonical retroactively.

John Vogel also confirmed on Twitter that Shao Kahn defeated Blaze. [1]

Due to MK11's revelation of the existence of alternate timelines, it is possible both outcomes took place in separate versions of events.

Mortal Kombat: Armageddon

Has the same throw move as some characters.

The main protagonist of the game.

One of the few characters that do not have a relic item to be found in Konquest mode (along with Chameleon and Khameleon).

One of Daegon's Drakeswords is actually Taven's.

Despite Daegon taking both the swords in his father's temple, Taven still has a Drakesword in Konquest gameplay. Although, this one is larger in size and has a different shape than the Drakeswords that Argus left to his sons.

In his early concept art, Taven was supposed to have a Bow as a weapon. This was, however, cut from the final game.

He has a cameo in Mortal Kombat (2011) in the first (actually the last) of Raiden's visions, where Taven appears to be fighting Dark Raiden.

Strangely, Taven was seen without his armor (in that moment in Konquest Mode, he had already obtained it.)

Mortal Kombat X

He has a cameo in Mortal Kombat X in both Takeda's and Kenshi's endings, where the both of them freed him from a stalagmite with information of the identity of Suchin's killer.